Unconventional Love
by whenallisright
Summary: Emilia had lived a perfect life for as long as she could remember. When all of that changes and all that she's ever known is taken from her, a series of unfortunate events leaves her stuck in Volterra. But maybe the end of her perfect life was the start of something magical. Alec/OC. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! This is my first ever fanfic, I hope you enjoy it. It's an Alec/OC. The Volturi will be brought in by chapter 2 or 3, so the wait won't be long. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, the next chapter should be up soon. Please R & R!**

**Constructive criticism is also welcome! Any review is appreciated.**

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I had been on the plane for hours but I couldn't fall asleep. All I could think about, as I looked down at the ground through the nearby window, was how I was leaving everything I had ever known miles and miles behind me.

All of the family I had ever known was gone, left hundreds of miles behind me, many of them several feet beneath the ground. I could hardly breath when I thought of any dreams I had ever had of becoming a professional ballet dancer. They were becoming more and more unlikely with every passing minute.

I had been dancing ever since I could form a sentence, and up until now ballet basically summed up my life. When I was younger it was almost all that I did, and for the past year it was _all _that I did. And now, barely fifteen, I have no idea what to do with my life. I was _supposed_ to be back home in New York City, right now I _should_ be standing in front of a mirror, surrounded by thirty other people as we practiced various positions for three straight hours. I _should_ be about to head down to a nearby cafe with several of my friends, as was tradition, doing ridiculous of our various instructors. I _should_ be happy, or at least, not quite so depressed.

Right now, there are a lot of things that I _should_ be doing, but instead I'm sitting on a plane wondering how on Earth my life has gotten to this point.

I guess that this all started around eight months ago, the day my mom was hit by some random taxi as she made her way to my father's office. My life had definitely changed, I had always been close to my mom, she was the reason I loved dance as much as I did. When she was growing up, it had been her dream to make her way up in a ballet company, and she almost made it. Unfortunately, a severe injury to her right ankle made it impossible, so when I was born it became _our_ dream for _me_. She'd been there to help me ice any swollen ankles, pulled muscles and broken hearts, and I couldn't have asked for a better mother. It was only expected that her death would be rough for me.

But, for my dad, it was even more difficult.

All of my life I had had a model father. He loved my mother and I more than anything, and never missed a birthday, holiday, or anniversary. He couldn't be there all the time, he was the CEO of a major corporation so it only made sense he would have to work many long nights and fly to various locations for days on end. But he was always there.

After my mother's death though, he could barely be there for himself, much less me. He quit his job and started drinking, and although he was never violent or cruel, I spent most of my time avoiding time. The man who I had always looked up to had been reduced to a zombie-like state. During his rare moments of sobriety I would try my best to comfort him, but it was to no avail.

Six days ago he was found hanging in our apartment, barely alive. At 1:08 AM he was pronounced dead.

My life, which for the longest time, had been relatively perfect. I was surrounded with people who loved me, and I was never without friends even if the only ones I did have were from ballet, I had everything a person could need and almost everything I had ever wanted, and over the course of eight short months I had lost nearly all of it. I went from the talented daughter with the whole world at my fingertips of an insanely happy married couple to an orphan with an insane trust fund.

I could only hope that Italy would be the start of something better.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some slight turbulence," the plane gave a sudden lurch and the sound of thunder filled the plane, "there is no need to be alarmed, but, due to company policy it is necessary that we remind you of the necessary safety precautions, so please direct your attention to the front of the cabin."

I didn't bother to look to the front of the plane, if the plane were to end up crashing I don't think I would be all that frightened. If anything, my current situation would vastly improve. Years of sporadically attending church had taught me that death wasn't something I needed to fear, that, if anything, I would only be blissfully happy after death. I could only hope they were right.

It sounded like I wouldn't get to find that out, at least not right now, as the captain informed us over the speakers that we were just outside Volterra and would be landing in a few minutes. I sighed in irritation, not disappointed per se, but I wasn't sure how much more life I wanted to deal with. Am I suicidal? No, but I've always been a person of extremes. I'm either elated or depressed, energized or tired, talkative or silent.

Full of life or barely there.

Right now I was the latter of the two, and I couldn't help but feel like a zombie as the plane landed. I gathered my things as if in a trance and could hardly muster the energy needed to feel anything as I saw that my connecting flight had been canceled due to the weather. I wasn't in a rush anyway, my newly appointed guardian, my great aunt's first cousin or something along those lines, was an eccentric woman who was so busy being trapped in her own world she hardly had time to care about her surroundings.

It had taken me by surprise when I was told that my parents had left me in her care. I had only ever met her twice, and both occasions had been years ago. She was kind, that much I could remember, and she had always been sneaking me candy (even though I had been strictly told that that was not something a serious ballet dancer should consume) and telling me stories of whatever she had done when she was a child. Meredith Grant is her name, and I could vaguely conjure up the memory of the frail old woman who never appeared in the room without a cheerful grin spread across her wrinkled face. She was fiery and loud and, even at the age of 73, she was the type of person to insist upon hiking up a steep mountain with hardly any assistance whatsoever.

I guess I shouldn't have been so shocked though. Neither of my parents had any siblings and I had never even met my mother's parents because of their strong disapproval of my parent's marriage. My father's mother had died five years ago from cancer and his father seemed close to following suit. Meredith, however, had never failed to send a Christmas gift or birthday card and had, apparently, flown in all the way from New Zealand when I was born. She had never had any children of her own, but had instead chosen to travel the world. She had always loved my mother and had taken the place of her mother when they had grown apart, so it only made sense that they would pick her to look after me in case the unthinkable happened.

I left her a voicemail anyway and then left to ask customer service about booking a hotel room.

After booking a room in the city and getting my luggage I called a cab.

The driver was a cheerful middle aged man. He hardly spoke English, and I was embarrassingly bad at deciphering accents so the ride was a little awkward. He didn't seem to notice it though, he continued to talk in a mixture of English and Italian, asking me the occasional question to which I would nod my head and smile. Soon enough I had lost even the energy to do that. My smile felt stiff and insincere and I could feel a lump in my throat, an obvious sign of a soon to come emotional breakdown.

I wanted nothing more than to lay down and cry. I had never been good a coping with emotions, preferring to ignore them for as long as I could before facing them in solitude. And right now seemed to be the breaking point, even the sights of Volterra didn't interest me.

It was a beautiful city though. The buildings were all tall and close together, surrounded by narrow streets paved with sandy colored stone. There were baskets and pots filled with flowers outside the fronts of stores and the windows were all aged and clear, a tell-tale sign of their decades worth of wear and tear. It was different from what I was used to seeing, and the change was kind of refreshing. If this was what Florence looked like, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

My father had loved Italian architecture.

At least in Florence I would have a better chance of moving on, I would actually have the opportunity to make real friends for once. That was a downside of dancing. When you spend five hours a day practicing there's no time for anything else, and the only friends you do make are competing with you. It's hard to really get close to people when you're constantly trying to be better than them.

I was going to miss dance though. Actually, that was an understatement. I didn't know what to do without it. I didn't have any other talent. I can't play an instrument, I was never great at school, I can't draw or paint. Dance is something that I'm good at, something that I'm passionate about. Up until a few days ago, I had basically devoted my life to dancing. I hadn't gone to homecoming in favor of a recital, I'd had to miss countless parties and events, sleepovers and vacations because it would interfere with my dancing schedule. But I had always seen those as a means to an end. If I wanted to be a professional I would have to skip out on fun things. Anything to achieve my dream. But I had never even entertained the idea that I would have to stop. That I would have to give up my spot in the New York City Ballet, a company I had been a part of for a mere nine months. I hadn't ever had a starring role, I wasn't even featured in every show, but neither was any other fifteen year old. But there was a possibility that one day I would get a starring role, that people would know my name or recognize me for the talent I might possess.

I shook myself from my thoughts when the driver, who I learned was named Sergio, announced that we were at the inn I would be staying at. I sent him a ghost of a thankful smile before paying him and collecting my luggage.

The check-in was easy enough, it looked as though I would be staying at one of those family run inns. Where the owners want to sit down and get to know everything about you. I was quick to leave though, I wasn't exactly in the mood to talk, and I had to resist the urge to lock myself in my room and cry. It was only 2 'o' clock and there should be plenty to do. I just didn't want to think, and if I was lucky a long walk would make my mind as numb as my body felt.

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**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please R&R.**

**Next chapter will introduce the Volturi! Also, I forgot to say last chapter that Alec will be the age of 16/17 like he was in the movies, if he was 12/13 it would be a little odd. Thank you to everyone who has followed and reviewed this story so far, it means a lot! The next chapter should be up in a few days.**

_whenallisright_


	3. Chapter 3

The cool air felt liberating. The clouds were grey and the slight shower was relieving to my warm skin. It was as if it were washing away my stress and worries. I had always loved taking walks, long ones through Central Park, but I guess anyone who lives in New York would have to. Driving took way too long. For the past couple of months I had stopped, it was something that reminded me of my mom. We used to walk around for hours. It was something we did when things went wrong, a moment away from the hardships of life. We'd just walk around the city and talk about nothing in particular. When she died I couldn't bare to do something that-for the longest time- had been _our_ thing. It seemed surreal, doing this for the first time in so long.

The thing was both of them, my mother and my father, were gone. They weren't coming back. Since I was told, I had hardly acknowledge her death. It hadn't helped me in the least. I figured actually facing my problems this time around might be more emotionally healing. I could only hope that I was right.

"_Mi scusi? Signora?_" Someone called.

Tensing, I turned around slowly. Whatever they were saying was obviously directed towards me, seeing as almost no one was out on the streets in the slight drizzle. I wasn't exactly excited to have an awkward conversation with a local who I couldn't understand and vice versa. I was exhausted, busy trying not to thinking. More than anything, I wanted to be left alone. Ignored. Normally I was a very social person, but doing anything right now, _especially _having a conversation, just felt tedious.

"Yes?" I answered, my voice strained.

My breathe hitched slightly. I was almost taken aback by who I saw. She was beautiful, ethereal. Her skin was a flawless alabaster, paler than anyone I had ever seen. Mahogany hair cascaded down her shoulders in frizz-free waves. She was tall and slender, and even the slight movement of her limbs showed that she had astounding grace. To say that she had my attention was an understatement. Why was someone as gorgeous as her stuck in Volterra? Shouldn't she be flying all over the world, acting as some well known designer's muse or something?

She laughed and it echoed around me. The sound melodic and, like everything else about her, flawless.

"Oh, that's no problem," her voice was silky and had a slight accent to it that, although I couldn't name it, I knew was most definitely not Italian. "I was simply wondering if you'd like to join our tour group?" She extended her hand backwards and it was then that I finally noticed the group of about fifteen people loitering behind her.

"It's free of charge," she added, a blinding smile gracing her lips.

It wasn't like I was doing anything, just planning to roam the streets. I had always been interested in historical things. Touristy things did tend to be kind of distracting, making you focus on the smallest details. I was very curious about the history of Italy, seeing as I'd be living here soon. Thinking about it for a second, I decided to go.

I sent her a half-hearted smile and a nod before falling in line with the rest of the group.

"Hello everyone," The woman greeted with a bright smile. "I'm Heidi and I'll be your guide today."

She led us through a narrow alleyway and into a town square. In the middle of it lay a huge fountain, which I'm sure looked better in the sunlight. It's intricate sculptures blending into the classic styled buildings. My eyes scanned the building behind it, before widening in surprise. About two hundred feet away was an archway leading toward a castle.

It was the sort of place mentioned in fairy tales. The gardens surrounding it were vibrant and overflowing, filled with copious amounts of statues. The building itself had many towers and was covered in sandy colored stone. It had many windows, all of which were covered with deep crimson curtains. For that moment, I was breathless.

Heidi led us through a set of very expensive looking french doors and into a gleaming room. The floors were made of pristine marble, the walls were covered in obviously pricey works of art. The room itself smelled strongly of poppies and roses, a scent obviously coming from many extravagant bouquets surrounding the room. Most of us, excluding myself, took the time to "Ooh" and "Ah" at the appropriate times as we looked over at an ancient vase or something similar. She continued to lead us through a maze of hallways-and the occasional ballroom- all of which were nearly overflowing with pricey objects that had to have been collected over centuries. She finally lead us into what could only be described as a throne room.

There sat five beautiful people, each with a slight smirk on their face. I glanced around, my eyes landing very swiftly on the rest of the room. Along the walls stood fifteen to twenty people, all of them just as flawless as the next. They all seemed slightly stiff, yet welcoming, as if they were anticipating something. Excitement hung in the air and the room was filled with snaps and flashes as some of the tourists took pictures of all of their surroundings.

"This," Our tour guid proclaimed with a wide, dramatic sweep of her arms, "Concludes our tour."

And then all Hell broke loose.

Heidi and the rest of the people launched themselves towards us, their once friendly faces shaping into something more demonic. Something so terrifying that even the movies couldn't pull off. Many people screamed in horror and I myself had frozen stiff, disbelieving my surroundings.

_This isn't happening, this isn't happening, _I thought hysterically. This is a nightmare, this isn't _real!_

I could hear the snaps of the necks, person after person. The splash of fresh blood falling to the ground, I was barely aware of some of it covering me. The once flawless people turned into something horrid as they drank the blood of their victim's hungrily. I came to realize that they weren't human, they were something far worse. They were monsters, the things from someones nightmares.

How had I not seen it before? Heidi's mysterious at us smiles, they hadn't been friendly, they had been _hungry_. Her free tour had been a way to herd us, and like sheep we had followed her. unwittingly being led to our deaths. You could see it in their smiles, feel it in the air. We had been hunted and now we were they're prey.

With that sudden take to reality, I began to panic. What could I do? These people obviously had some sort of amazing strength. Being 5'3 and ninety-two pounds soaking wet, I had always been fragile. Years and years worth of dancing had done it's toll on my bones and the bruises and odd fractures had not been a rarity. Earlier today I hadn't even been sure that I_wanted_ to live, but now, having seen so many people's lives taken away in mere minutes. It seemed almost selfish not to keep fighting through it.

It was in that moment that I made eye contact with one of the five original beings I had seen. She was fair haired and tall. A deadly snarl covered her inhumanly sculpted face. I didn't think I could fight, I had never even been one for a verbal confrontation, let alone physical ones. There was no way I could stand my own.

She continued to stalk towards me with an animalistic grace and I braced myself for the inevitable pain of her attack. Waiting for her to pounce. The woman moved so quickly that I could hardly see it. Just a soft blur of colors. She was mere inches before me in seconds.

"You," The creature said with a purr to her tone, "will make a fine meal."

I felt her grab me by the throat. This is my time, I'm finally dying. After all the contemplations over taking my own life, fate had decided to have me murdered instead. Her hand tightened around my neck braking me from my thoughts.

"Athenadora." A liquid like voice called out. The woman looked at another-who was equally as fair and inhumanly beautiful- with annoyance.

Athenadora, I suspected, sighed heavily. "I'm a bit busy, Sulpicia."

Sulpicia rolled her eyes and floated towards us. Her feet not making a sound as she came to a stop in front of us. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but I think that you should let the human go, Dora."

"Why should I do that, Sulpicia?" Athenadora questioned curiously. "What use could she _possibly_ be to the Volturi? She's hardly done anything magnificent."

"Just take a look at the girl," Sulpicia murmured, "This girl has an aura about her. It's faint, but it's there."

They both looked me over and I could feel myself tremble. My eyes brimmed with tears at my soon to be dragged out death. What would they do with me? Let me go? It didn't seem that way.

"Now that you mention it, she does have a sort o-"

"Sulpicia, Dora, it's not nice to play with your food." The leader said pointedly.

Both women snapped their attention to him, he was clearly one of the head of these monsters. He held a look of vague amusement on his face but his eyes spoke of his displeasure. The creature was a rather tall man, about 6'2, and had the appearance of a young man, twenty-six at the most. He had long, pin straight dark hair. His clothes, like many of the others, were very outdated. Something I had chocked up to being part of the tour earlier. It was in l the way he carried himself. It spoke of centuries. I realized, with slight horror, that this man-and now that I looked around many of the others- had lived much longer than you would be led to believe at first glance.

"Aro," Sulpicia pleaded softly. "Just look at the girl! Doesn't she look as if she could be of use to you?"

Aro frowned deeply, and gave me a once over. They had now drawn the attention of everyone else in the room. They looked on in interest, and had I not been so busy being petrified, I might have blushed.

"Sulpicia, what would you know about power?" A blonde man scoffed. His hair platinum blonde and as pin straight as Aros.

"Thousands of years has taught me enough, Ciaus." She declared without missing a beat. Her voice held no malic, but her expression showed her annoyance. "I'm not completely incompetent."

"Of course not, dear," Aro said soothingly, trying to calm down the woman. "Corin, dear?"

This girl, Corin, came over and everyone in the vicinity seemed to smile. She was loved, possibly by everyone she met. Without a question she took the hands of Athenadora and Sulpicia and led them out of the room. The two not sparing me a backwards glance, their minds obviously occupied.

"Now," Aro began once again. "What to do with you."

Slowly he rose from the chair and gestured me forward. My heart stuttered a few beats fast as i stepped near him. My stomach twisted once again. After stepping down the marble steps, he offered his hand, and although reluctant to, I did the same with a suspicious glance.

The creature began to murmur softly, offering the occasional, "Oh dear," or something similar, his face showing various emotions.

"My dear, perhaps you may be some use to us after all." He said cheerfully, pointedly gazing into my eyes.

Ciaus scoffed. "You can't possibly want to keep the girl! What p-"

"Keep?" I finally spoke. My voice an octave higher then usual. My stomach churned with a newly renowned fear. I didn't want to spend any more time with these, these whatever they were, much less _stay_ with them. Aro gave me a patronising look.

"Oh, my dear, a life with us is much better than no life at all, wouldn't you agree?"

Well, that shut me up.

"And yes, brother, I do believe she would be of some asset to us." His tone spoke of finality and the other man spoke no more, although he didn't have to. His look of heavy disapproval spoke volumes. "What do you think, Marcus?"

The other man who looked as though he had taken a fair share of Valium barely spared me a glance.

"What harm could the girl do?"

Aro clapped his hands happily, a beaming smile replacing his former look of seriousness.

"Well, then it's settled." He turned to face the others, "It appears as though we have a new addition to the family."

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**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I'd also like to thank my newly apointed beta SugarCoatTheTruth! Please R&R. I hope you enjoyed! Alec will enter the story next chapter, which should be out in a few days!**

**Lots of love!**

**~Whenallisright~**


	4. Chapter 4

My heart thudded against my rib cage. They were_ keeping me?_ Widening my eyes, I stared at the man in front of me. He was serious. Dead serious. I had no choice in the matter. It's like a I was piece in their game, a pawn.

"_A life with us is better than no life at all..." _I was in danger if I decided against it. That much is obvious. These monsters, they are truly evil. They are the predators and I'm the prey, a toy for them to pass the time. At any moment I could end up like the others before me. Cold and dead, left lying on the floor like another rock on the road. Like taking a human life didn't matter. To them it probably didn't. I was just the little human girl, someone who they doubted could even carry her own weight. Saved-in a shallow sense of the word- by only two very strong opinions, both of which could change at any time.

I was helpless and-to just about everyone in this room- worthless. A waste of space. An incompetent little human girl that wasn't worth the air she breathed.

How had I not noticed? Why had I denied that small part of me that warned me that Heidi was bad news? I hadn't even noticed their eyes. Shuddering in disgust at the mere thought. The color of the blood they drained from the bodies of their victims. The dark crimson pools staring at us hungrily. Which was so obvious now that I looked back at it. I had been stupid, oblivious. Without my mother their to hold my hand and guide me, I had failed to protect myself, not even remembering a simple rule. The rule to not talk to strangers, and definitely not take an offer they give. Just assuming that things couldn't get worse. Which something years worth of watching horror movies had strongly opposed, and because of that I was stuck in this deadly situation.

"Demetri." My captor commanded out across the room. "Show Emilia to her room."

A tall blonde man stepped away from the crowd, face emotionless. His eyes held cool indifference as he looked at me. A cold hand firmly gripped my upper arm, pulling me out of the room. I didn't even try to escape his grasp as he dragged me down a now sinister looking hallway. He was handsome, they all were. Staring at him I couldn't help but bask in the beauty. He had a strong jaw and aristocratic features. I could tell-even under his clothes- his body was made of lean muscle.

"What are you?" I blurted out.

He didn't even take a sideways glance at me. Instead he chose to smile devilishly, still facing forward. "I'm sure you've already come to the conclusion."

It was true, but I could hardly think of it without wanting to break down into a mess of emotions. "Maybe, but it would be nice to have it verified," My voice was barely a whisper. I'm sure that he could hear me, especially by the slightly annoyed look on his face. It was clear that these people were abnormal, it would be stupid of me to underestimate them in any way, shape, or form.

Demetri chuckled darkly in response before stopping in front of a tall oak door. "You'll be staying here." After the words left his mouth, he turned around and left abruptly. I shouldn't say left, I should say _disappeared_.

"That's it?" I called after him. "I'm just supposed to sit here and wait?" I got no answer in reply to my question. Leaving me to my own thoughts. With the time I had, I obviously began to think of a way to escape.

Stepping inside the room, I made sure to lock the door behind me. Unfortunately, this seemed to be one of the only rooms in this entire castle with no windows. I thought back to my friend Amy, she had been known to get into trouble and was the polar opposite of me. The goody-two-shoes, dedicated dancer. She was notorious for staying out all night partying and making it to lessons in the nick of time. If she wasn't out doing something I would never dream of doing, she was sneaking out _to do _those things.

It's actually very surprising that we were friends at all.

_Time to act like Amy.._ I looked around the room hoping for a source of inspiration. Anything to spark my master plan of escape. It was just an ordinary, very well decorated, room. The floors were made of dark wood and the walls were covered in elaborately designed wallpaper made of golden swirls. White old fashioned furniture placed about the room accordingly. Two bedside tables and a vanity filled to the brim with expensive perfumes and powders. In the middle of the room sat a large bed covered in fluffy down pillows. The closet was no use either. It was practically empty save some old boxes filled with decades old footwear.

Then there was the bathroom.

Thankfully, despite the castle's very old appearance, it was equipped with indoor plumbing. Turning the shower on, I ignored my appearance which I was sure would make any sane person scream and quickly left. If this all worked out the way I had planned I would be able to get out of the castle and into a public place before anybody caught on. It would just be a matter of timin-

"What are you doing?"

_Shit, seriously?_

I turned around nonchalantly. Best not to act like I was escaping, I'd be dead. Literally, I added as an after thought. Stepping away from the now closed bedroom door and into the hallway, I faced the charming voice. Some guy, one who I would guess is my age-perhaps a year or two older- was staring at me with his eyes narrowed. They seemed to look right through me, making my stomach churn in discomfort. He was tall, at least seven inches taller than me, with shaggy chestnut hair and a boyish face._ He was incredibly good looking_. Intimidating, but good looking.

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" I asked him, widening my eyes and shooting him my most innocent and confused expression.

He stepped closer until I was back against the door I had just came from. His full lips turning up into an expression of extreme distaste. I heard the doorknob behind me turn and used my own momentum against me, letting me stumble into the room. "Just remember this, little human." His velvety voice slipping into a deceptively neutral tone. "If you run, we will find you."

With that, he closed the door and locked it with an ominous 'click'.

My chest tightened, I _am_ helpless. I am two steps behind everyone and it doesn't look as though I'll be catching up anytime soon.

I would still keep trying. If anything, I'm persistent. Never really one to give up on anything and I don't plan on starting now. After dodging all of these bullets in the last few days I might as well try and save myself. Giving up now would just be ridiculous. For now though I think it's best that I try and plan things through. I had been caught the _second_ I left the room, which had to set some sort of record on the suck scale.

"Oh, and Emilia." His voice traveling through the door. My name was filled with such, disgust, I didn't believe it possible. "I would wash up if I were you, you are filthy."

I frowned before turning to the mirror on the vanity curiously. Filthy? What was he talking abou-

_Oh_. That was what he was talking about.

**_Oh._**

I was covered in blood. My once pristine white shirt was now deep crimson and hard in certain areas. Hair matted down with the coppery scented liquid. I suddenly felt sick. I looked like something that had stepped out of a horror movie, which, now that I think that, I basically _had_. Suddenly everything seemed blurrier and the room seemed smaller. People had _died_, and I was covered with the exact reason they had been killed in the first place. Blood. Something I had hated ever since I had seen the sight of my mother's death. The pavement had been covered in it and the sheer amount of it let you know that she hadn't even made it to the hospital. In my state of shock I hadn't even truly realized what had happened, I had been scared but not terrified, upset but not traumatized. But _this_... this was evidence slapping me in the face. They were all gone and I was trapped in this place with the monsters responsible.

I ran to the bathroom and began to wretch, tears streaming down my face. My throat burned. Everything that had happened sickened me and surviving it made me feel dirty. Like I cheated death himself. Quickly stripping off my clothes, I ran into the shower, scrubbing furiously at my skin in the blistering heat of the water. I wanted it gone, every shred of evidence of the transpired events. I wanted to wake up tomorrow somewhere different. Anywhere with no memory of what had happened. Today must've been a nightmare because things like this don't happen. Things like this don't exist in real life, things like this aren't _real_.

I began to sob, the copious amounts of soap and water doing nothing for me. I would forever be covered in the blood of their victims no matter what I did. No matter how many times I scrubbed at my skin, no matter how clean I was to the untrained eye. I was covered in death, surrounded by the misconception of life. Forever to see the world for what a hell it was.

**_I was tainted._**

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**A/N: Thank you to all of you that have read and reviewed this story so far! I'd also like to thank SugarCoatTheTruth for being an awesome beta. Next chapter will really introduce all of the important characters and you'll get to see Emilia interact with people more, so I'm really excited for that!:) The next chapter should be finished and posted in four to five days! **

** ~whenallisright~**


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